A 1955 Mercedes, which exists in only two examples, was sold in early May for 135 million euros (over 182 million Canadian dollars), an absolute world record for a car sold at auction, announced on Thursday at RM Sotheby’s house.
The 1955 Mercedes Coupé 300 SLR Uhlenhaut was sold on May 5 at a confidential auction held at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, Germany, in collaboration with Sotheby’s subsidiary for luxury cars and the German car manufacturer.
At a price of 135 million euros, this Mercedes has sold almost triple the previous record held since 2018 by a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold in 2018 by RM Sotheby’s for more than 48 million US dollars (61.5 million CAD).
Furthermore, the Mercedes The 300 SLR is now in the top 10 of the most expensive items sold at auctionRM Sotheby’s boasted in a press release published Thursday in London and announced in New York by parent company Sotheby’s, which is conducting its spring auction for works of art this week.
Oliver Barker, president of Sotheby’s Europe quoted in the press release, said he felt it an absolute thrill to reach the auction hammer for this masterpiece of design and engineering, now measured against the greatest work of art ever sold.
In fact, according to a classification established byAFP works of art sold at auction in recent years, mainly in New York, the absolute record is held by Savior Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci, auctioned in November 2017 for 450.3 million dollars (577.5 million CAD) by Christie’s in New York.
Then came the Sage Blue Marilyn was shot by Andy Warhol who left on May 9 for 195 million dollars (250 million CAD) at Christie’s, which became the most expensive work of art in the 20th century sold at public auction.
For the works of the 20th century, The Women of Algiers [version 0] by Pablo Picasso ($ 179.4 million in May 2015 [230 millions CAD]) and the Lying naked of Amedeo Modigliani (170.4 million [218,5 millions CAD] in November 2015), were both sold at Christie’s.
According to this classification of works of art sold at auction of more than $ 100 million, the Mercedes was sold on May 5 by RM Sotheby’s and qualifies as best car in the world so in 6th or 7th place.
The car, which is owned, as in the second example, by Mercedes-Benz, is sold to a private collector and the proceeds of the sale. will be used to set up an international “Mercedes-Benz fund” for scholarships and research training for young people in environmental science and decarbonizationaccording to RM Sotheby’s.
The private buyer of the Coupé 300 SLR Uhlenhaut has agreed to display his vehicle to the public at extraordinary events, while another copy will remain the property of Mercedes-Benz, which will continue to display it at its museum in Stuttgart.
According to RM Sotheby’s and the luxury and sports car press, the 300 SLR, distinguished by its unusual line and butterfly doors, was created by engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut, based on a racing car, the W196 R Grand Prix , who won two Formula 1 world championships in 1954 and 1955 with Italian driver Juan Manuel Fangio.
But the Mercedes-Benz manufacturer was marked by its horrific car accident in June 1955 in the 24 hours of Le Mans, which killed its French driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators, and drove him away from motor racing. for many years.
Source: Radio-Canada
